Over the last several years, personal computers ("PC"s) have made increasing use of a pointing device, such as a mouse, a trackball, a touchpads or a stylus pointer to increase the useability of computer programs. In particular, computer programs employing graphical user interfaces such as Microsoft Windows make extensive use of a pointing device to access program functions.
Of the above, the mouse has over time proven to be the fastest and most efficient pointing device in the PC environment. Thus, it has become commonplace for desktop PCs to come equipped with a mouse. The mouse sits to the side of the desktop PC and typically resides on a flat surface. The mouse requires a substantially planar surface on which to move freely under the guidance of the user's hand to provide input to the computer. For purposes of the present discussion, "workspace" shall be defined as the surface or area on which a mouse is free to move.
Mice differ from other pointing devices in two respects. First, a mouse uniquely allows a user to employ both finger and wrist action to "click" and "drag." Second, a mouse can be lifted from the surface on which it moves to allow physical repositioning of the mouse without repositioning the pointer on the computer screen.
A rapidly growing segment of the PC market is portable computers, including laptop, notebook and palmtop computers. These portable computers often embody the equivalent computing power of desktop computers in a small, easily transportable unit. Laptop and notebook computers, in particular, are as powerful and are designed to operate the same software as their desktop counterparts, including software that requires or functions better with a pointing device.
Unfortunately, portable computers are frequently used in a user's lap or in other impromptu locations. For the portable computer to use a mouse, the preferred pointing device, these impromptu locations must provide a workspace for the mouse. This is often not the case. Accordingly, an alternative pointing device, such as a trackball, must be used to avoid restricting use of the portable computer to a desktop.
To date, most portable computers equipped with a pointing device have either a hand-held or chassis-mounted trackball. Most chassis-mounted trackballs are either integrated within the chassis itself or extend from the side of the chassis. The side-mounted trackballs must either be separated from the chassis when the computer is stored or remain on the side, subject to punishment from impact during transportation. In addition, side-mounted trackballs have a cord allowing the trackballs to provide signals to the computer. This cord dangles from the computer if the trackball remains mounted to the side during transportation, furthering the inconvenience and risk of damage thereto.
Other portable computers employ small "joystick" like pointing devices that provide most of the functionality of a mouse. However, these alternative pointing devices are relatively fragile and are not as useful or effective as mice.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a portable computer that provides a workspace for a mouse, allowing a portable computer to use a standard mouse as a pointing device, even when desktop space is not available for use by the mouse.